Study of ICT adoption for building project management in the Indian construction industry

Building project management requires effective coordination and collaboration between multiple project members. It can be achieved through real time communication flow between all. In present scenario, it can be achieved through adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Construction industry primarily comprises small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Also, ICT adoption has been slow in the industry.---------- Research is required to assess the factors that affect ICT adoption at the three levels of industry, organization and people, with focus on SMEs. This paper discusses a component of the research undertaken to study these factors and issues in the context of Indian construction industry. A questionnaire survey was conducted and through quantitative data analysis the extent of adoption of formal Project Management processes, ICT adoption for these processes and factors including perception based factors affecting ICT adoption were studied. Results of data analysis includes identification of issues that require action at the three study levels.---------- The results can be generalized for other countries with due considerations, specifically for countries where the construction industry is similar to Indian construction industry in terms of working methodologies or for large countries.

Comparison of temporal processing and motion perception in emmetropes and myopes

While spatial determinants of emmetropization have been examined extensively in animal models and spatial processing of human myopes has also been studied, there have been few studies investigating temporal aspects of emmetropization and temporal processing in human myopia. The influence of temporal light modulation on eye growth and refractive compensation has been observed in animal models and there is evidence of temporal visual processing deficits in individuals with high myopia or other pathologies. Given this, the aims of this work were to examine the relationships between myopia (i.e. degree of myopia and progression status) and temporal visual performance and to consider any temporal processing deficits in terms of the parallel retinocortical pathways. Three psychophysical studies investigating temporal processing performance were conducted in young adult myopes and non-myopes: (1) backward visual masking, (2) dot motion perception and (3) phantom contour. For each experiment there were approximately 30 young emmetropes, 30 low myopes (myopia less than 5 D) and 30 high myopes (5 to 12 D). In the backward visual masking experiment, myopes were also classified according to their progression status (30 stable myopes and 30 progressing myopes). The first study was based on the observation that the visibility of a target is reduced by a second target, termed the mask, presented quickly after the first target. Myopes were more affected by the mask when the task was biased towards the magnocellular pathway; myopes had a 25% mean reduction in performance compared with emmetropes. However, there was no difference in the effect of the mask when the task was biased towards the parvocellular system. For all test conditions, there was no significant correlation between backward visual masking task performance and either the degree of myopia or myopia progression status. The dot motion perception study measured detection thresholds for the minimum displacement of moving dots, the maximum displacement of moving dots and degree of motion coherence required to correctly determine the direction of motion. The visual processing of these tasks is dominated by the magnocellular pathway. Compared with emmetropes, high myopes had reduced ability to detect the minimum displacement of moving dots for stimuli presented at the fovea (20% higher mean threshold) and possibly at the inferior nasal retina. The minimum displacement threshold was significantly and positively correlated to myopia magnitude and axial length, and significantly and negatively correlated with retinal thickness for the inferior nasal retina. The performance of emmetropes and myopes for all the other dot motion perception tasks were similar. In the phantom contour study, the highest temporal frequency of the flickering phantom pattern at which the contour was visible was determined. Myopes had significantly lower flicker detection limits (21.8 ± 7.1 Hz) than emmetropes (25.6 ± 8.8 Hz) for tasks biased towards the magnocellular pathway for both high (99%) and low (5%) contrast stimuli. There was no difference in flicker limits for a phantom contour task biased towards the parvocellular pathway. For all phantom contour tasks, there was no significant correlation between flicker detection thresholds and magnitude of myopia. Of the psychophysical temporal tasks studied here those primarily involving processing by the magnocellular pathway revealed differences in performance of the refractive error groups. While there are a number of interpretations for this data, this suggests that there may be a temporal processing deficit in some myopes that is selective for the magnocellular system. The minimum displacement dot motion perception task appears the most sensitive test, of those studied, for investigating changes in visual temporal processing in myopia. Data from the visual masking and phantom contour tasks suggest that the alterations to temporal processing occur at an early stage of myopia development. In addition, the link between increased minimum displacement threshold and decreasing retinal thickness suggests that there is a retinal component to the observed modifications in temporal processing.

‘Keep telling until someone listens’ : understanding prevention concepts in children’s picture books dealing with child sexual abuse

Children’s picture books dealing with the topic of child sexual abuse appeared in the 1980s with the aim of addressing the need for age-appropriate texts to teach sexual abuse prevention concepts and to provide support for young children who may be at risk of or have already experienced sexual abuse. Despite the apparent potential of children’s picture books to convey child sexual abuse prevention concepts, very few studies have addressed the topic of child sexual abuse in children’s literature. This article critically examines a selection of 15 picture books (published in the US, Canada and Australia) for children aged 3–8 years dealing with this theme. It makes use of an established set of evaluative criteria to conduct an audit of the books’ content and applies techniques of literary discourse analysis to explain how these picture books satisfy criteria for child sexual abuse prevention. The analysis is used as a way to understand the discourses available to readers, both adults and children, on the topic of child sexual abuse. Key themes in the books include children’s empowerment and agency, and the need for persistence and hope.

The silk road project : dance and embodiment in the age of motion capture

The Silk Road Project was a practice-based research project investigating the potential of motion capture technology to inform perceptions of embodiment in dance performance. The project created a multi-disciplinary collaborative performance event using dance performance and real-time motion capture at Deakin University’s Deakin Motion Lab. Several new technological advances in producing real-time motion capture performance were produced, along with a performance event that examined the aesthetic interplay between a dancer’s movement and the precise mappings of its trajectories created by motion capture and real-time motion graphic visualisations.

E-commerce experiences in the real estate industry : a preliminary study in regional Queensland

Computer systems have become commonplace in most SMEs and technology is increasingly becoming a part of doing business. In recent years, the Internet has become readily available to businesses; consequently there has been growing pressure on SMEs to take up e-commerce. However, e-commerce is perceived by many as being unproven in terms of business benefit. This research aims to determine what, if any, benefits are derived from assimilating e-commerce technologies into SME business processes. This paper presents three in-depth case studies from the Real Estate industry in a regional setting. Overall, findings were positive and identified the following experiences: enhanced business efficiencies, cost benefits, improved customer interactions and increased business return on investment.

Responding to sustainability challenge and cost implications in highway construction projects

Highway construction often requires a significant capital input; therefore it often causes serious financial implications for developers, owners and operators. The recent industry-wide focus on sustainability has added a new dimension to the evaluation of highway projects, particularly on the economical scale of ‘going green’. Comprehensive analysis of the whole-of-life highway development that responds to sustainability challenges is one of the primary concerns for stakeholders. Principles of engineering economics and life cycle costing have been used to determine the incremental capacity investments for highway projects. However, the consideration of costs and issues associated with sustainability is still very limited in current studies on highway projects. Previous studies have identified that highway project investments are primarily concerned with direct market costs that can be quantified through life cycle costing analysis (LCCA). But they tend to ignore costs that are difficult to calculate, as those related to environmental and social elements. On a more positive note, these studies proved that the inclusion of such costs is an essential part of the overall development investment and a primary concern for decision making by the stakeholders. This paper discusses a research attempt to identify and categorise sustainability cost elements for highway projects. Through questionnaire survey, a set of sustainability cost elements on highway projects has been proposed. These cost elements are incorporated into the extension of some of the existing Life Cycle Costing Analysis (LCCA) models in order to produce a holistic financial picture of the highway project. It is expected that a new LCCA model will be established to serve as a suitable tool for decision making for highway project stakeholders.

Service quality in the Malaysian fast food industry : an examination using DINESERV

This study addresses calls in the literature for the external validation of Western-based marketing concepts and theory in the East. Using DINESERV, the relationships between service quality, overall service quality perceptions, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intentions in the Malaysian fast food industry are examined. A questionnaire was administered to Malaysian fast food consumers at a large university, resulting in findings that support the five-dimensional nature of DINESERV and three of four proposed hypotheses. This study contributes to knowledge of service quality in developing countries and is the first to examine DINESERV in the Malaysian fast food industry.

Reading the play : adaptation by prediction of agent motion

An adaptive agent improves its performance by learning from experience. This paper describes an approach to adaptation based on modelling dynamic elements of the environment in order to make predictions of likely future state. This approach is akin to an elite sports player being able to “read the play”, allowing for decisions to be made based on predictions of likely future outcomes. Modelling of the agent‟s likely future state is performed using Markov Chains and a technique called “Motion and Occupancy Grids”. The experiments in this paper compare the performance of the planning system with and without the use of this predictive model. The results of the study demonstrate a surprising decrease in performance when using the predictions of agent occupancy. The results are derived from statistical analysis of the agent‟s performance in a high fidelity simulation of a world leading real robot soccer team.

A modified quality control method for manufacturing process in mask industry

Masks are widely used in different industries, for example, traditional metal industry, hospitals or semiconductor industry. Quality is a critical issue in mask industry as it is related to public health and safety. Traditional quality practices for manufacturing process have some limitations in implementing them in mask industries. This paper aims to investigate the suitability of Six Sigma quality control method for the manufacturing process in the mask industry to provide high quality products, enhancing the process capacity, reducing the defects and the returned goods arising in a selected mask manufacturing company. This paper suggests that modifications necessary in Six Sigma method for effective implementation in mask industry.

Visual motion estimation for an autonomous underwater reef monitoring robot

Performing reliable localisation and navigation within highly unstructured underwater coral reef environments is a difficult task at the best of times. Typical research and commercial underwater vehicles use expensive acoustic positioning and sonar systems which require significant external infrastructure to operate effectively. This paper is focused on the development of a robust vision-based motion estimation technique using low-cost sensors for performing real-time autonomous and untethered environmental monitoring tasks in the Great Barrier Reef without the use of acoustic positioning. The technique is experimentally shown to provide accurate odometry and terrain profile information suitable for input into the vehicle controller to perform a range of environmental monitoring tasks.

Visual motion estimation for an autonomous underwater reef monitoring robot

Performing reliable localisation and navigation within highly unstructured underwater coral reef environments is a difficult task at the best of times. Typical research and commercial underwater vehicles use expensive acoustic positioning and sonar systems which require significant external infrastructure to operate effectively. This paper is focused on the development of a robust vision-based motion estimation technique using low-cost sensors for performing real-time autonomous and untethered environmental monitoring tasks in the Great Barrier Reef without the use of acoustic positioning. The technique is experimentally shown to provide accurate odometry and terrain profile information suitable for input into the vehicle controller to perform a range of environmental monitoring tasks.

Accurate silhouettes for surveillance : improved motion segmentation using graph cuts

Silhouettes are common features used by many applications in computer vision. For many of these algorithms to perform optimally, accurately segmenting the objects of interest from the background to extract the silhouettes is essential. Motion segmentation is a popular technique to segment moving objects from the background, however such algorithms can be prone to poor segmentation, particularly in noisy or low contrast conditions. In this paper, the work of [3] combining motion detection with graph cuts, is extended into two novel implementations that aim to allow greater uncertainty in the output of the motion segmentation, providing a less restricted input to the graph cut algorithm. The proposed algorithms are evaluated on a portion of the ETISEO dataset using hand segmented ground truth data, and an improvement in performance over the motion segmentation alone and the baseline system of [3] is shown.

Safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in the construction industry : a research methodology

Anecdotal evidence from the infrastructure and building sectors highlights issues of drugs and alcohol and its association with safety risk on construction sites. Operating machinery and mobile equipment, proximity to live traffic together with congested sites, electrical equipment and operating at heights conspire to accentuate the potential adverse impact of drugs and alcohol in the workplace. While most Australian jurisdictions have identified this as a critical safety issue, information is limited regarding the prevalence of alcohol and other drugs in the workplace and there is limited evidential guidance regarding how to effectively and efficiently address such an issue. No known study has scientifically evaluated the relationship between the use of drugs and alcohol and safety impacts in construction, and there has been only limited adoption of nationally coordinated strategies, supported by employers and employees to render it socially unacceptable to arrive at a construction workplace with impaired judgement from drugs and alcohol. A nationally consistent collaborative approach across the construction workforce - involving employers and employees; clients; unions; contractors and sub-contractors is required to engender a cultural change in the construction workforce – in a similar manner to the on-going initiative in securing a cultural change to drink-driving in our society where peer intervention and support is encouraged. This study has four key objectives. Firstly, using the standard World Health Organisation AUDIT, a national qualitative and quantitative assessment of the use of drugs and alcohol will be carried out. This will build upon similar studies carried out in the Australian energy and mining sectors. Secondly, the development of an appropriate industry policy will adopt a non-punitive and rehabilitative approach developed in consultation with employers and employees across the infrastructure and building sectors, with the aim it be adopted nationally for adoption at the construction workplace. Thirdly, an industry-specific cultural change management program will be developed through a nationally collaborative approach to reducing the risk of impaired performance on construction sites and increasing workers’ commitment to drugs and alcohol safety. Finally, an implementation plan will be developed from data gathered from both managers and construction employees. Such an approach stands to benefit not only occupational health and safety, through a greater understanding of the safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs at work, but also alcohol and drug use as a wider community health issue. This paper will provide an overview of the background and significance of the study as well as outlining the proposed methodology that will be used to evaluate the safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in the construction industry.

Resilience in critical infrastructures : the case of the Queensland electricity industry

The reliability of Critical Infrastructure is considered to be a fundamental expectation of modern societies. These large-scale socio-technical systems have always, due to their complex nature, been faced with threats challenging their ongoing functioning. However, increasing uncertainty in addition to the trend of infrastructure fragmentation has made reliable service provision not only a key organisational goal, but a major continuity challenge: especially given the highly interdependent network conditions that exist both regionally and globally. The notion of resilience as an adaptive capacity supporting infrastructure reliability under conditions of uncertainty and change has emerged as a critical capacity for systems of infrastructure and the organisations responsible for their reliable management. This study explores infrastructure reliability through the lens of resilience from an organisation and system perspective using two recognised resilience-enhancing management practices, High Reliability Theory (HRT) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) to better understand how this phenomenon manifests within a partially fragmented (corporatised) critical infrastructure industry – The Queensland Electricity Industry. The methodological approach involved a single case study design (industry) with embedded sub-units of analysis (organisations), utilising in-depth interviews and document analysis to illicit findings. Derived from detailed assessment of BCM and Reliability-Enhancing characteristics, findings suggest that the industry as a whole exhibits resilient functioning, however this was found to manifest at different levels across the industry and in different combinations. Whilst there were distinct differences in respect to resilient capabilities at the organisational level, differences were less marked at a systems (industry) level, with many common understandings carried over from the pre-corporatised operating environment. These Heritage Factors were central to understanding the systems level cohesion noted in the work. The findings of this study are intended to contribute to a body of knowledge encompassing resilience and high reliability in critical infrastructure industries. The research also has value from a practical perspective, as it suggests a range of opportunities to enhance resilient functioning under increasingly interdependent, networked conditions.

Directing for the 360 degree frame : developing a directorial approach to performance capture

What happens when the traditional framing mechanisms of our performance environments are removed and we are forced as directors to work with actors in digital environments that capture performance in 360 degrees? As directors contend with the challenges of interactive performance, the emergence of the online audience and the powerful influence of the games industry, how can we approach the challenges of directing work that is performance captured and presented in real time using motion capture and associated 3D imaging software? The 360 degree real time capture of performance, while allowing for an unlimited amount of framing potential, demands a unique and uncompromisingly disciplined style of direction and performance that has thus far remained unstudied and unquantified. By a close analysis of the groundbreaking work of artists like Robert Zemeckis and the Wetta Digital studio it is possible to begin to quantify what the technical requirements and challenges of 360 degree direction might be, but little has been discovered about the challenges of communicating the unlimited potential of framing and focus to the actors who work with these directors within these systems. It cannot be argued that the potential of theatrical space has evolved beyond the physical and moved into a more accessible virtual and digitised form, so how then can we direct for this unlimited potential and where do we place the focus of our directed (and captured) performance?